Word \Word\, n. [AS. word; akin to OFries. & OS. word, D. woord,
G. wort, Icel. or[eth], Sw. & Dan. ord, Goth. wa['u]rd,
OPruss. wirds, Lith. vardas a name, L. verbum a word; or
perhaps to Gr. "rh`twr an orator. Cf. Verb.]
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1. The spoken sign of a conception or an idea; an articulate
or vocal sound, or a combination of articulate and vocal
sounds, uttered by the human voice, and by custom
expressing an idea or ideas; a single component part of
human speech or language; a constituent part of a
sentence; a term; a vocable. "A glutton of words." --Piers
Plowman.
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You cram these words into mine ears, against
The stomach of my sense. --Shak.
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Amongst men who confound their ideas with words,
there must be endless disputes. --Locke.
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2. Hence, the written or printed character, or combination of
characters, expressing such a term; as, the words on a
page.
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3. pl. Talk; discourse; speech; language.
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Why should calamity be full of words? --Shak.
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Be thy words severe;
Sharp as he merits, but the sword forbear. --Dryden.
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4. Account; tidings; message; communication; information; --
used only in the singular.
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I pray you . . . bring me word thither
How the world goes. --Shak.
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5. Signal; order; command; direction.
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Give the word through. --Shak.
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6. Language considered as implying the faith or authority of
the person who utters it; statement; affirmation;
declaration; promise.
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Obey thy parents; keep thy word justly. --Shak.
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I know you brave, and take you at your word.
--Dryden.
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I desire not the reader should take my word.
--Dryden.
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7. pl. Verbal contention; dispute.
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Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me.
--Shak.
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8. A brief remark or observation; an expression; a phrase,
clause, or short sentence.
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All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. --Gal. v.
14.
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She said; but at the happy word "he lives,"
My father stooped, re-fathered, o'er my wound.
--Tennyson.
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There is only one other point on which I offer a
word of remark. --Dickens.
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By word of mouth, orally; by actual speaking. --Boyle.
Compound word. See under Compound, a.
Good word, commendation; favorable account. "And gave the
harmless fellow a good word." --Pope.
In a word, briefly; to sum up.
In word, in declaration; in profession. "Let us not love in
word, . . . but in deed and in truth." --1 John iii. 8.
Nuns of the Word Incarnate (R. C. Ch.), an order of nuns
founded in France in 1625, and approved in 1638. The
order, which also exists in the United States, was
instituted for the purpose of doing honor to the "Mystery
of the Incarnation of the Son of God."
The word, or The Word. (Theol.)
(a) The gospel message; esp., the Scriptures, as a
revelation of God. "Bold to speak the word without
fear." --Phil. i. 14.
(b) The second person in the Trinity before his
manifestation in time by the incarnation; among those
who reject a Trinity of persons, some one or all of
the divine attributes personified. --John i. 1.
To eat one's words, to retract what has been said.
To have the words for, to speak for; to act as spokesman.
[Obs.] "Our host hadde the wordes for us all." --Chaucer.
Word blindness (Physiol.), inability to understand printed
or written words or symbols, although the person affected
may be able to see quite well, speak fluently, and write
correctly. --Landois & Stirling.
Word deafness (Physiol.), inability to understand spoken
words, though the person affected may hear them and other
sounds, and hence is not deaf.
Word dumbness (Physiol.), inability to express ideas in
verbal language, though the power of speech is unimpaired.
Word for word, in the exact words; verbatim; literally;
exactly; as, to repeat anything word for word.
Word painting, the act of describing an object fully and
vividly by words only, so as to present it clearly to the
mind, as if in a picture.
Word picture, an accurate and vivid description, which
presents an object clearly to the mind, as if in a
picture.
Word square, a series of words so arranged that they can be
read vertically and horizontally with like results.
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Note:
H E A R T
E M B E R
A B U S E
R E S I N
T R E N T
(A word square)
Syn: See Term.
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Word \Word\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worded; p. pr. & vb. n.
Wording.]
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1. To express in words; to phrase.
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The apology for the king is the same, but worded
with greater deference to that great prince.
--Addison.
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2. To ply with words; also, to cause to be by the use of a
word or words. [Obs.] --Howell.
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3. To flatter with words; to cajole. [Obs.] --Shak.
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To word it, to bandy words; to dispute. [Obs.] "To word it
with a shrew." --L'Estrange.
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word
n 1: a unit of language that native speakers can identify;
"words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he
hardly said ten words all morning"
2: a brief statement; "he didn't say a word about it"
3: information about recent and important events; "they awaited
news of the outcome" [syn: news, intelligence, tidings,
word]
4: a verbal command for action; "when I give the word, charge!"
5: an exchange of views on some topic; "we had a good
discussion"; "we had a word or two about it" [syn:
discussion, give-and-take, word]
6: a promise; "he gave his word" [syn: parole, word, word
of honor]
7: a word is a string of bits stored in computer memory; "large
computers use words up to 64 bits long"
8: the divine word of God; the second person in the Trinity
(incarnate in Jesus) [syn: Son, Word, Logos]
9: a secret word or phrase known only to a restricted group; "he
forgot the password" [syn: password, watchword, word,
parole, countersign]
10: the sacred writings of the Christian religions; "he went to
carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: Bible, Christian
Bible, Book, Good Book, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ,
Scripture, Word of God, Word]
v 1: put into words or an expression; "He formulated his
concerns to the board of trustees" [syn: give voice,
formulate, word, phrase, articulate]

word
A fundamental unit of storage in a computer. The
size of a word in a particular computer architecture is one of
its chief distinguishing characteristics.
The size of a word is usually the same as the width of the
computer's data bus so it is possible to read or write a
word in a single operation. An instruction is usually one or
more words long and a word can be used to hold a whole number
of characters. These days, this nearly always means a whole
number of bytes (eight bits), most often 32 or 64 bits. In
the past when six bit character sets were used, a word might
be a multiple of six bits, e.g. 24 bits (four characters) in
the ICL 1900 series.
(1994-11-11)

WORD, construction. One or more syllables which when united convey an idea a
single part of speech.
2. Words are to be understood in a proper or figurative sense, and they
are used both ways in law. They are also used in a technical sense. It is a
general rule that contracts and wills shall be construed as the parties
understood them; every person, however, is presumed to understand the force
of the words be uses, and therefore technical words must be taken according
to their legal import, even in wills, unless the testator manifests a clear
intention to the contrary. 1 Bro. C. C. 33; 3 Bro. C. C. 234; 5 Ves. 401 8
Ves. 306.
3. Every one is required to use words in the sense they are generally
understood, for, as speech has been given to man to be a sign of his
thoughts, for the purpose of communicating them to others, he is bound in
treating with them, to use such words or signs in the sense sanctioned by
usage, that is, in the sense in which they themselves understand them, or
else he deceives them. Heinnec. Praelect. in Puffendorff, lib. 1, cap. 17,
Sec. 2 Heinnec. de Jure Nat. lib. 1, Sec. 197; Wolff, lust. Jur. Nat. Sec.
7981.
4. Formerly, indeed, in cases of slander, the defamatory words received
the mildest interpretation of which they were susceptible, and some
ludicrous decisions were the consequence. It was gravely decided, that to
say of a merchant, "he is a base broken rascal, has broken twice, and I will
make him break a third time," that no action could be maintained, because it
might be intended that he had a hernia: ne poet dar porter action, car poet
estre intend de burstness de belly. Latch, 104. But now they are understood
in their usual signification. Comb. 37; Ham. N. P. 282. Vide Bouv. Inst.
Index, h.t.; Construction; Interpretation.